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Words of Faith, December 2014

posted Dec 6, 2014, 11:19 PM by Faith Lutheran

WORDS OF FAITH

December 7, 2014

The Pastor’s Message

By Rev. Nick Henseler

Isaiah 9:6; “For a child is born to us, a son is
given to us…”

As we enter in to Advent
season, for our Wednesday evening services we’ll be taking a look at how Christ
the Messiah was prophesied and predicted long before Jesus was even born in
that manger in Bethlehem. And it amazes me as I study these prophecies in
Scripture how accurate many of these predictions ended up to be and only gives
proof as to a divine influence.

To give you an idea of the
incredible accuracy, the probability of just eight of the Old Testament
prophecies being fulfilled is one chance in one hundred million billion. That
is a number that is millions of times greater than the total number of people
who have ever walked on this planet!Folks,
that gives us a confidence that the Bible is inspired by God and is
completely trustworthy. There is no way that a person could have made it up.

So the Old Testament actually
points to the first Christmas. And the New Testament fulfills what the prophets
of old were longing for. And remember, Scripture gives just as many prophecies
and predictions about Christ when He will return again!

So this Advent season let’s
be excited not only about the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but also let’s
have a hopeful expectation and anticipation of when He will return again to
bring all believers home with Him to heaven!

Have a blessed Advent
everyone! Pr. Nick

Church Year Begins in
Anticipation of Christmas

Advent marks the beginning of the church year as we
anticipate the celebration of the birth of our Savior.The season is being marked each Sunday
morning by the traditional lighting of the advent candles.

On Wednesdays, Pastor Henseler’s teachings have a focus on
Christmas Before Christ.The two
remaining installments will take place at December 10 at 7 p.m. and December 17
at a special time of 11 a.m.

The Sunday School Christmas Program will take place during
the Sunday 9 a.m. worship on December 21.The Sunday Schoolers will rehearse the day before at Saturday December
20.

The birth of our Lord will be remembered at a special
Christmas Eve service December 24 at 4 p.m.The candlelight service will include special music by the choir.

There is a sign-up sheet in the basement for those who would
like to purchase poinsettias that can be displayed in the sanctuary.

By the way, there will be no evening services December 31.

Annual Meeting Date
Set for 2015

The annual congregational meeting for Faith Lutheran Mission
Church has been set for Sunday, January 25 after Sunday worship.Included on the agenda will be the election
of new council members and congregational officers, and action on the 2015
congregational budget.Congregation
President LaMoine Parkhurst requests that all committees turn in their annual
reports to the church office by January 10.

Lift Fund Fundraising
Continues

Contributions continue to grow to support the construction
of a lift designed to make Faith Lutheran Mission Church more accessible.The congregation voted in October to raise
funds for the lift, which will allow individuals to ride to the basement or the
sanctuary from within the building or from outside.

Through November, $20,925.44 has been raised toward the
project, which is expected to cost $32,000.$14,925.44 has been raised through contributions from the congregation,
with an additional $5,000 provided so far from an anonymous contributor who has
pledged to provide a dollar for every $2 raised by members and friends of the
congregation toward the project.

Members can track progress of the project on the thermometer
poster in near the church entrance.Special
contributions to the project continue to be welcomed and encouraged.

FLMC to Offer
Volunteers to Support Interfaith Homeless Shelter in January

Mark your calendars for Janaury 18-24 – it’s the first week
of 2015 during which Faith Lutheran Mission Church will be offering volunteers
and meals to support the mission of Eau Claire Interfaith Hospitality Network
at the Beacon House Homeless Shelter downtown.

We’ll share the week with our LCMC sister congregation
Saving Grace.We’ll be looking for
sign-ups for preparing or serving meals, and also looking for some overnight
hosts.Sign-up sheets will be in the
church fellowship hall.

Contact Karla Petersen if you have questions.

December Mission
Offerings to support Community Table and Bible translation in Africa

Faith Lutheran Mission Church dedicates 11% of its weekly
offerings to support local missions, and another 10% to missions outside our
community.

For the month of December, the local mission target is The
Community Table, a collaborative effort of local churches, the area food bank
and concerned organizations and individuals.It serves one meal per day each day of the year on a no-questions-asked
basis.Anyone can join the table during
mealtime.

The non-local support for December will go to support the
ministry of Marty and Tina Ganong, who work in West Africa translating the
Bible into the native language of a group of people from that area.

Three Days of Prayer
Coming in January

Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ has announced
that its third annual Three Days of Prayer will take place from January 6th
through 8th of 2015.

Rev. Mark Vander Tuig, Service Coordinator for LCMC is
inviting all of the congregations in LCMC including Faith Lutheran Mission
Church to dedicate one day each for confession, petition and vision.

Day One, Tuesday January 6, is a day of confession,
recognizing that we have sinned against God, against each other and
ourselves.We have been caught up in big
arguments about small things when there are those we love who do not know
Jesus, and not connected to his church.

Day Two, Wednesday, January 7, is a day of petition.There are so many things, people and issues
to pray for and about, this day is committed to bringing our petitions to
God.We know that He hears our prayers
and is at work in ways that we can see, and ways that we will never know.

Day Three, Thursday, January 8, is a day of seeking God’s
vision for our church and our association.The church belongs to Jesus and we simply ask the Lord of the church to
lead, guide and direct our mission and ministry.

“Prayer is the most effective tool in our toolbox and the
most powerful piece of equipment in the arsenal,” said Rev. Vander Tuig.“The church of Jesus Christ will not rise up
until we first get to our knees.”

January 2015 is also the official start of the LCMC Prayer
Chain.Those who are interested in
signing up to commit to praying for all of the congregations in LCMC each month
may sign up at the website www.lcmc.net.

News and Notes

Men of Faith gather and the Maple Manor Monday,
December 8 for study, prayers and breakfast.Join them at 8:30 a.m.

FLMC depends on volunteers to keep our sidewalks
clear of snow.Roy Christopherson has
volunteers to keep things in shape from December 21 through January 3, but all
other dates are still available.Sign up
in the fellowship hall.

Church cleaning schedule includes Chuck and Kim
Olson December 5 & 12, and Katie Evans with Elaine & Bob Moore December
19 and 26.The family of Kristine Seanor
Behling will be taking the first two weeks of January.

We’re seeing visitors at the church every
week.Please remember to wear your name
tags to help them feel welcome.

When disposing of recyclable containers and
bottles, please rinse them out before placing them in the bin.That makes it easier and less messy for the
DeVries family, who have volunteered to take or trash.

Are you on Facebook?Don’t forget to “Like” Faith Lutheran Mission
Church’s page!And our Facebook page
editor, Katie DeVries, is asking for some feedback on the page.

You can now find our worship services from the
previous week on channel 994.And you
can still watch anytime at www.faithlutheranmc.org.

If you have prayer request you would like to
have made known to the prayer chain, please contact Sylvia Miller at
715-874-5080 or Katie Evans at 715-831-8797.

General Weekly
Calendar

(Schedule may vary due to member visitations, evening
meetings and special services)

Sundays

9:00Worship

10:00Fellowship

Monday-Tuesday

9 a.m. - 4 p.m.Office Hours

Wednesday

10:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.Office Hours

7 p.m. Worship

Thursday

10 a.m.-4 p.m.Office Hours

Feel free to check before you stop in by calling Pastor Nick
at the Church (715-514-2021) or on his cell (952-484-5101).You can also email pastornickhenseler@gmail.com.